Millennial Women in the Workplace Success Index: Striving for ...

Millennial Women in the Workplace 

Success Index: 

Striving for Balance 

January 2010 

Copyright © 2010 Accenture All Rights Reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.

Research objectives 

Accenture’s research study, “Millennial Women in the Workplace 

Success Index: Striving for Balance,” was conducted to help fuel 

the dialogue on key issues for working women. In the U.S., 

women will soon comprise half the workforce, and millennials are 

now one-third of the working population. 

Against a backdrop of economic volatility, the areas of focus were: 

• Exploring how millennial women view the workplace and their 

role in it 

• Examining how companies can best support and retain these 

future leaders 

© 2010 Accenture All Rights Reserved. 

2

Methodology 

• An online survey of 1,000 women, ages 22-35, employed full-time 

in the U.S. was conducted by Penn Schoen Berland 

• Respondents were distributed evenly by age and rank in their 

organizations 

• The survey was fielded in November 2009; the margin of error is 

approximately +/- three percent 


3

Executive summary 

Copyright © 2010 Accenture All Rights Reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture. 

4

Optimistic outlook 

about career prospects 

• The vast majority (94 percent) of young professional women 

believe they will have rewarding careers balanced with fulfilling 

personal lives 

– They identified two primary qualities as keys to workplace 

success – the ability to balance personal and professional lives 

and a job where they can make a difference 

• At the same time, 59 percent report being at least somewhat 

negatively affected by the current economic downturn, and 33 

percent are more concerned with keeping their jobs than 

achieving work/life balance 


5

Optimistic outlook 

about career prospects 

• They define success as doing meaningful work, while maintaining 

balance between their personal and professional lives (cited by 

66 percent and 59 percent, respectively) 

• Other factors of workplace success include stable employment 

that provides financial security, a positive work environment, 

open and honest communication with supervisors and 

opportunities to grow professionally 

• When asked to list typical qualities of a successful female 

business leader 

– 70 percent cite “maintains work/life balance” 

– 66 percent cite “is flexible” 

– 64 percent cite “is able to make an impact” 


6

Combining quality of 

life and career growth 

• 70 percent believe they will be successful, and one-third believe 

they will reach the top of their professions 

• When asked about drivers of professional success, they cite: 

– Medical benefits (63 percent) 

– Flexible hours (50 percent) 

– Classes and training for professional advancement 

(37 percent) 

• Similarly, when asked about what is important to them, 66 percent 

cite family life, compared to 29 percent who cite career success 


7

Women are split on wanting 

more money versus more personal time 

• Almost half of respondents (46 percent) report that they currently 

have an equal balance of work and personal life 

– 46 percent would be willing to give up some of their salary if 

it meant spending more time on personal life 

– 54 percent would be willing to give up time spent on their 

personal life for more income 

• On average, women seeking more personal time have somewhat 

higher incomes and are willing to forego 15 percent of their 

income 

– Respondents willing to sacrifice personal time want a 32 

percent increase in salary 


8

Various factors affect the 

decision to accept a job 

• Respondents cite: 

– Secure employment (65 percent) 

– Encourages work/personal life balance (49 percent) 

– Opportunities for bonus (33 percent) 

– Investment opportunities, such as a 401K match or profitsharing 

(29 percent) 


9

Barriers to professional 

success are changing 

• When asked to rank barriers to their careers, just 12 percent cite 

marriage and 19 percent mention maternity policies, compared to 

30 percent who cite pay scale for women 

• Respondents also report that women are increasingly joining the 

ranks of senior executives 

– Only seven percent report that fewer women are being appointed to 

C-suite positions and boards of directors than five years ago 

– 46 percent say that more women are being appointed than five years 

ago 

– Just 20 percent report a lack of women in the C-suite and on boards 

of directors 


10

Female role models do not 

appear to be most important 

• When asked to identify what is most helpful in driving professional 

success, few cite “women in company leadership” (i.e., C-suite, 

boardroom –16 percent) and “having female role models at my 

company” (18 percent) 

• More than half cite “a good work atmosphere” (59 percent) and 

“open and honest communications with supervisors” (52 percent) 


11

Yet gender barriers have 

not disappeared completely 

• According to respondents, ongoing gender obstacles include: 

– A corporate culture that favors men (28 percent) 

– General stereotypes / preconceptions (26 percent) 

– Sexism (22 percent) 

• Respondents cite several workplace issues as major obstacles to 

success, notably a lack of motivation, being deceived by a coworker 

and insufficient healthcare, each reported by 26 percent 


12

Top qualities for success are 

personal/professional balance 

and a job that makes a difference 


13

The vast majority of young professional 

women believe they will have rewarding 

careers and fulfilling personal lives 


14

At the same time, 59 percent report being 

at least somewhat negatively affected by 

the current economic downturn… 


15

…and 33 percent are more concerned 

with keeping their job than achieving 

work/life balance 


16

They define success as doing meaningful 

work and maintaining balance between 

their personal and professional lives 


17

Other success factors include stable 

employment that provides financial security, 

a positive work environment, open and honest 

communication with supervisors and 

opportunities to grow professionally 

See Appendix for complete chart details 


18

Top qualities of a successful female 

business leader include balance, flexibility 

and ability to make an impact 


19

Combining professional and personal 

success 


20

70 percent believe they will be successful… 


21

…and one-third believe they will 

reach the top of their professions 

© 2010 Accenture All Rights Reserved. 22

However, they cite medical benefits and 

flexible hours as drivers of professional 

success, compared to classes and training 

for professional advancement 


23

Similarly, when asked about what is important 

to them, 66 percent cite family life, compared 

to 29 percent who cite career success 


24

While almost half of respondents (46 percent) 

report that they currently have an equal 

balance of work and personal life… 


25

...they are divided on whether they would 

give up personal time for more money 

or money for more personal time 


26

On average, women seeking more personal 

time have somewhat higher incomes and are 

willing to forego 15 percent of their income, 

while respondents willing to sacrifice personal 

time want a 32 percent increase in salary 


27

Secure employment and work/personal life 

balance are more important factors when 

deciding to accept a job than opportunities 

for bonus and investment 


28

Some traditional gender barriers are 

falling 


29

Perhaps fueling confidence in their future, 

respondents report that barriers to 

professional success are changing 

Just 12 percent cite marriage 

and 19 percent report 

maternity policies, compared 

to 30 percent who cite pay 

scale for women; just 20 

percent report a lack of 

women in the C-suite and 

on boards of directors 

Showing major barriers 

© 2010 Accenture All Rights Reserved. Traditional “women barriers” highlighted in purple text 

30

Respondents also report that women are 

increasingly joining the ranks of senior executives 

Only seven percent report that 

fewer women are being appointed 

to C-suite positions and boards 

of directors than five years ago; 

46 percent say that more women are 

being appointed than five years ago 

© 2010 Accenture All Rights Reserved. 31

Additionally, female role models do not 

appear to be most important to respondents 

When asked to identify what is most helpful in driving professional success, few cite 

“women in company leadership” (i.e. C-suite, boardroom) and “having female role 

models at my company” compared to more than half who cite “a good work 

atmosphere” and “open and honest communications with supervisors” 


32

Yet gender barriers have 

not disappeared completely 

Ongoing gender obstacles include 

a corporate culture that favors 

men, general stereotypes / 

preconceptions and sexism; 

several workplace issues are major 

obstacles to success, notably a 

lack of motivation, being deceived 

by a co-worker and insufficient 

healthcare 

Showing major barriers 

© 2010 Accenture All Rights Reserved. Traditional “women barriers” highlighted in purple text 

33

Appendix 


34

Developing the Millennial Women 

in the Workplace Success Index 

• To identify all factors, we ran statistical analyses to correlate what 

factors most drive women’s perceptions of current and future 

success 

– We looked across the survey to understand what drives success 

using the following series: 


Satisfaction with areas of personal and professional life 

Importance of personal and professional goals 

Importance of factors when taking a job 

Importance of factors in career success 

Importance of workplace offerings 

35

Full chart details (per slide 18) 


36

Full chart details (per slide 18) 


37

Millennial Women in the Workplace 

Success Index: 

Striving for Balance 

January 2010 

Copyright © 2010 Accenture All Rights Reserved. Accenture, its logo, and High Performance Delivered are trademarks of Accenture.

Millennial Women in the Workplace Success Index: Striving for ...

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